Tempting, but this would be a better change. The difference between the British conservative leaders and the ones we're stuck with in the United States is the difference between rational conservatism and magic-wand conservatism.

I'm not a Tory. But listening to Cameron's speech at the Conservative Party's annual conference, I was bowled over.

First, instead of conjuring up sugarplum visions of pain-free change, the Conservatives are addressing their fiscal crisis with seriousness and specificity. Osborne is about to unveil an austere deficit-reduction plan that will cut most departmental budgets by 25 percent over several years.

This is not some dead-on-arrival presidential budget; the parliamentary system means that these are for-real cuts.

You can argue whether this is the right approach in a wobbly economy, or whether these cuts are too draconian, but it takes guts to spell them out.

Compare this to House Republicans' laughable "Pledge to America," which could manage to summon up just two measly trims: cutting Congress' budget (all legislative branch spending totals less than $4 billion) and freezing the size of the federal work force (it's smaller now than it was in 1967).

Second, the Conservatives call for shared sacrifice, starting in a place Republicans seem never to look -- at the top.

"It's fair that those with broader shoulders should bear a greater load," Cameron said.

As the conference opened, the Tories announced, to much howling from their own members, that higher earners -- those making more than about $70,000 a year -- would no longer be entitled to automatic child benefits, under which a family with three children receives close to $4,000 annually.

Third, the Conservatives do not embrace the tea party vision of government as malevolent force.

Fourth, Cameron's conservatives do not suffer from the Republicans' anaphylactic allergy to taxes. While Republicans insist on extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, the Conservatives have endorsed tax increases. Yes, you read that right -- even though the tax burden is already significantly higher in the United Kingdom.

The prime minister pointed to a planned referendum next year on electoral reform -- a measure that Conservatives oppose.

"Let's not waste time trying to wreck the bill," he said. "Let's just get out there and win the vote."

Granted, the United Kingdom and United States have different political systems and political cultures.